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Integrating Information Architecture Deliverables in a Web Application Development Methodology

“The user experience team members learned to speak the same language by collectively discussing our ways of working and our deliverables. This process started with the kick-off workshop, continued during the review process of the diagram and deliverables descriptions and continues to this day when we discuss how to combine smaller artifacts into project deliverables. This discussion translated into fewer misunderstandings about the contents of a document, the kind of activities expected and the required input. It increased the consistency of our work. Because each project’s deliverables were chosen from the same total set, we could reuse previous documents as examples or templates. This re-use in turn allowed us to document our work faster, leaving more time to study our design’s completeness, quality and effects on others.”

From a Feb/Mar 2005 ASIS&T Bulletin. Found through an IxDA discussion thread that includes links to a blog post by Peter Boersma and slides (see below).

While these materials are older (aren’t we all?), this is a high level but thorough discussion about how to organize then integrate standardization of information architecture deliverables within any software development organization. Since 1995, when I first was paid to do web work, the field has evolved into a vast array of job roles and specialities. While it is useful to know a little about all the roles, and how they fit together, the real challenge is to do what is described here, to integrate the roles, starting by optimizing each role. These items describe information architecture but they also apply, and evolved, into other roles.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent introduction to the problems involved in integrating the different specialities involved in creating web applications.

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